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Nankai University
Economics
Software Development
Software Engineer
Yiheng Chen, with a background in economics during her undergraduate studies, discovered the value of software programming skills in employment competition through her internships. “When I develop a webpage or launch a mini app, I can immediately see that millions of users are using it. The influence of the internet is instant. I believe this is where my passion lies.” She added, “That’s why I preferred a more practical and employment-oriented master’s program.”
With the DKU ECE program offering a course structure of studying one year in China and one year at Duke University in the United States, Chen believes it will provide her with a comprehensive and well-rounded professional learning experience. The opportunity to study in both China and the US will expose her to diverse perspectives and help her adapt to the second-year study abroad.
The most memorable course for Yiheng is ECE 550 (Computer Systems and Engineering Foundations) in her first semester, which focuses on hardware. Each student was given a breadboard and some wires at experimental recitation, with a basic understanding of concept fundamentals. She was completely clueless, “It felt like I was forced to build an airplane when all I knew was how to assemble the outer frame.” Through perseverance and collaboration, she overcame the challenge. While feeling the accomplishment, she sighed, “Through this course, I learned that there is no standard answer to business development tasks, and the only solution is to explore and solve problems creatively by myself.”
During her two years of study, Yiheng underwent a significant shift in her thinking process. Economics uses theory to explain phenomena, while software programming deduces processes and solutions from observed results. For instance, when developing a website, to add a search menu item, the developer needs to consider the correspondence of the backend database, while also anticipating potential changes in the database. “This step-by-step reverse derivation training requires strong logical thinking.” Apart from programming courses, Yiheng found entrepreneurship and leadership courses to be highly beneficial, she added, “These courses taught me soft skills like how to demonstrate personal leadership in the workplace, and the professional writing skills include responding to questions via emails, respecting other people’s opinions, and expressing my views reasonably.”
A trans-major student should clarify the learning direction as early as possible. “Whether you want to be a programmer, data scientist, or data analyst, you must prepare early and make good use of the resources around you.” To better prepare for graduate study, students should make full use of on-campus resources and supplement the corresponding courses during undergraduate. There are also many high-quality tutorials on the Internet. These can become knowledge reserves.
